Salthill raft race and festival could become annual feature

Galway City Tribune – Galway’s first-ever raft race will take place in Salthill at the end of June, with up to 30 rafts tipped to compete.

Modelled on the hugely successful Portrush Raft Race in Antrim, the competition will be held in conjunction with Seafest and will be marked by a street celebration featuring food and music.

The Village Salthill Raft Race 2018 on Saturday, June 30 aims to raise funds for the RNLI, the water rescue service. Last year’s Portrush event raised £22,000 for the same charity.

Chairman of the Village Salthill committee, Keith Kissane, said they are urging businesses to get involved in the event and make their own raft to take part in the race from Blackrock to Ladies’ Beach.

“It can cost anything – from zero to whatever you want. We’re hoping the Village Salthill will be building a raft totally from recycled materials, so it will cost nothing. It can be made of anything that floats – wood, bottles, plastic, whatever moves on water,” explained Keith.

There will be a food village set up in the carpark on the Prom during the day, while at night, a stage will be erected for bands to entertain the crowds, “just like in the good old days when you had the Salthill Harp Lager Festival”.To read the rest of this article, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.